


One Big Happy Family — *Kiyi*

by HufflepuffChildOfApollo



Series: One Big Happy Family [10]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: And also a good big brother, Gen, Half-Siblings, I just really wanted to write Sokka and Suki gettin married, Marriage Proposal, Minor Mai/Zuko, Protective Siblings, Protective Zuko (Avatar), Sibling Bonding, Smoke and Shadow Comics (Avatar), Sokka and Zuko are Siblings, There is a criminal shortage of Zuko-Kiyi fics and I will not stand for it, Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Toph wants to teach children swears, Weddings, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, just at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:54:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25427998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HufflepuffChildOfApollo/pseuds/HufflepuffChildOfApollo
Summary: Moving into the palace is scary at first, especially when "mom" won't let her have a moment's peace, but Zuzu makes her feel right at home. And Uncle Iroh's really nice, and so are Zuko's friends, and Kiyi thinks that maybe she could get used to living here.
Relationships: Kiyi & The Gaang, Kiyi & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko
Series: One Big Happy Family [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1799011
Comments: 28
Kudos: 620





	One Big Happy Family — *Kiyi*

**Author's Note:**

> I was gonna wait to write this but then I found out there are only like four fics tagged as Zuko & Kiyi, and I WILL NOT stand for this deprivation of wholesome sibling content.

The Fire Nation palace is really big. And kind of scary. There are shadows _everywhere,_ and the rooms and halls are so big sometimes Kiyi can't see everything all the way at the end of them, and the doors are so big that Zuzu has to help her open them, and the bed she shares with Dad and Ursa is so big that when she crawls out at night, she doesn't have to be careful of waking them up. 

She sneaks through the hallways, and she knows she's not good at it, she's never had to sneak, so she just stays in the shadows so even if someone _does_ hear her they won't see her (and she tries to ignore the thought that a spirit could creep up behind her and steal her away, and nobody would see _that_ either). She holds her breath when the servants pass by, and sometimes if she passes by a window she steps out of the shadows into the light, because the shadows are too close to all that open air (and someone could reach in and take her, and then she might never see Zuzu again) —

She reaches the empty room she found in the first night here, and curls up in the bed. She falls asleep, and wakes up before sunrise, crawling back into bed with Dad and Ursa before they can wake and realize she's gone. 

{‹›}

Zuko doesn't notice her as she hides behind a pillar in the courtyard. Kiyi watches, fascinated, as he moves like he's dancing and flames arc from his hands, feet — sometimes even his _mouth,_ which is _really cool._ She knows fire can hurt, and she wonders if his hands ever get burnt from the flames coming out of them. 

She doesn't let him know she's watching, but she commits every move to memory. Just in case she needs to be brave like Zuko one day.

{‹›}

 _She's in a room full of other kids, and there's scary ladies outside_ , _and she's **trying** to do what Zuko does and make fire but everything's distracting, and then the door opens and the scary lady reaches in and grabs her —_

Kiyi wakes up, shaking. Mommy and Dad are asleep, and she doesn't want to wake them, so she crawls out of bed like she used to every night, and heads to Zuzu's room. 

She can hear talking inside, and Suki (the pretty guard) isn't guarding outside, and neither is Ty Lee. She pushes open the door, peeking through the crack. 

Zuko's sitting on th floor, and Kiyi's surprised to see his friends — Katara, Aang, Sokka and Toph — all sitting with him, along with Suki and Ty Lee (Kiyi's never seen them without their makeup, but she recognizes their hair). They're in a circle, Katara and Aang holding hands, Suki and Sokka laying on each others' shoulders. It takes Kiyi a minute to realize Mai's there too, sitting away from the group, under the window. 

Kiyi starts to back out, but Mai's already noticed her, and catches Zuko's eye, nodding toward the door. Zuko looks up, and then stands up very quickly, looking worried. 

"Everything okay, Ki?" he asks. 

"I had a nightmare." _**The** nightmare, **again,**_ goes unsaid. 

"Oh." He walks over, holding his hand out. He's not wearing his Firelord robes, just a tunic and pants, and his hair's not tied up like it usually is. He looks comfy and happy. 

"You can stay in here," he offers. Kiyi nods, taking his hand, and Katara and Ty Lee both make an _'Awww'_ noise as they walk over. Aang smiles widely, waving to her. 

"Alright, now keep the discussions appropriate. _Sokka,"_ Zuko adds. Kiyi giggles. "And no swearing, Toph."

"Why? I've already taught her all the good words," Toph points out. "All that's left is _sh_ —" Aang puts his hand over Toph's mouth. 

_"No,"_ he says in a Mom Voice. "You're not corrupting her."

"I second that," Zuko says. "That stuff is _my_ job, Toph, to be done in a controlled environment, not —"

"Yeah, yeah, don't get your britches in a bunch," Toph says, causing Kiyi to giggle again. Toph isfunny. 

"Anyway," Zuko says, sitting down with his arm around Kiyi and looking at Sokka. "What were you saying?"

Kiyi listens while Sokka talks about hunting with his Dad, and catching a giant polar seal. Then while Aang talks about a giant radish he once grew. Then while Toph tells them all about a giant bug she found up her nose once — at which point Zuko decides it's time to stop talking and go to bed. 

They all lay down in a big pile on the floor, using each other as pillows. Zuko uses his pointy elbows to make sure nobody squishes Kiyi. 

She cuddles close to her big brother and goes to sleep — and doesn't have any more nightmares. 

{‹›}

Sokka's sitting in the corner of the courtyard, carving something with his big knife. Kiyi can't help looking over in curiosity — which might be the reason Zuko's getting impatient. 

"Kiyi, you need to focus," he says, turning her face back towards him. His hands are really warm, and he's really gentle, but she can see on his face that he's irritated. "You'll burn yourself if you don't pay attention. Start from the first form again."

Kiyi nods, moving into the first stance. "What's Sokka carving?" she asks. "He's been over there for a long time."

"I don't know, you'll have to ask him," Zuko says, demonstrating the second stance. "Keep your back leg straight for this one." 

Kiyi straightens her leg, looking over her shoulder at Sokka. "That's a really big knife."

"Yep," Zuko says, shifting his position again. "Remember to keep your shoulders up for this one." 

"Can I have a knife?" Kiyi copies his form. "I really want a knife."

"Maybe if you pay attention to your firebending," Zuko answers, giving her a Look. 

"Okay." Kiyi smiles, taking his point — _**Looks** mean pay attention, _she reminds herself. She finishes the form without getting distracted again.

When she finishes and Zuko starts practicing his own forms, she runs over to Sokka. 

"What are you carving?" she asks, hopping onto the bench next to him. 

"It's a present for Suki," he says, smiling. 

"Suki's pretty," Kiyi comments. 

"She sure is."

"Do you like Suki?" 

"That's why I'm making her a necklace. I want to ask her to marry me."

Kiyi can't help gasping. "You're gonna marry Suki?"

"I hope so," he says, smiling really big. "I'm almost done with her necklace, so I'm asking her tonight." 

Kiyi grins. "I hope she says yes."

"So do I," Sokka says, sighing the way Zuko does when Mai walks by. She wonders if Zuko's gonna get married to Mai one day. 

{‹›}

"No," Zuko says. "Mai doesn't like me." 

"Oh." Kiyi frowns. "But you like her."

He sighs. "Yeah."

"Why doesn't she like you?"

"Because. I did something that made her mad."

"What did you do?"

"I didn't tell her a secret when I should have."

Kiyi frowns. "Why didn't you tell her?"

He gives her a Look. "It doesn't matter why I did it. I did it, and it made her upset, and she broke up with me."

Kiyi gasps. "You were _together?"_

Zuko sighs heavily. Not like he does when he sees Mai. 

Kiyi stops asking about Mai. 

{‹›}

Sokka and Suki come to breakfast, grinning. Suki's wearing a pretty ribbon around her neck, with a little circle-shaped rock on it. There's an upside-down triangle carved on it, and Kiyi realizes after a minute that it's supposed to be a fan. 

"We've got some big, big news," Sokka says, looking like he's about to start crying. "Suki and I are engaged!"

Katara and Aang gasp, and Mom smiles, looking at Dad. 

"Congratulations, buddy," Zuko says, standing up and hugging Sokka and Suki. "I'm happy for you both."

Kiyi smiles, running over and hugging them. 

"I knew she'd say yes!" she says. Sokka and Suki both smile. 

Aang and Katara join the hug, and Toph begrudgingly joins too, muttering a congratulation. 

"So, when's the wedding?" Aang asks brightly. "Do you have any plans?"

Sokka grins, looking at Aang, and pulls out a scroll. "I already have the guest list." 

{‹›}

Sokka and Suki are married a year and a half later on Kyoshi Island. Sokka's dad conducts the ceremony. Sokka has a piece of paper with a short speech written on it, but goes off-script halfway through, and starts rambling. Suki tosses her speech aside, kissing Sokka. He shuts up.

At the dinner after the wedding, Hakoda, Katara, Aang, Zuko and Toph all have speeches, and after that some of the Kyoshi Warriors talk, and then after dinner there's a little bit of dancing. Suki and Sokka are _really good_ at it, and very graceful. Aang drags Zuko on the floor to do a dance that looks more like a firebending form — no, actually, Kiyi is fairly certain that _is_ the firebending form Zuko showed her not long ago. 

Toward the end of the night, when everyone's more or less just settled down to talk (or in Toph and Aang's case, have a Who-can-balance-more-things-on-a-sleeping-Katara? contest), Kiyi looks around for Zuko. She finally sees him in the corner — dancing with Mai. They're both a little bit stumbly, and Kiyi can see that they're talking while they sway and twirl along to the slow music. 

Kiyi sits with Uncle Iroh, who's smiling over at Zuko and Mai. 

"I'm glad to see they have made up," he says, sipping his cup of tea. "I was beginning to worry for Zuko's breath control with all the wistful sighing he did."

Kiyi giggles. "Yeah."

She leans her head on Uncle's shoulder, taking the cup of tea he offers, and looks around. She's really glad, she thinks, that Zuko came and found her and Mom and Dad. She wouldn't have met so many people otherwise — Sokka, who tells funny jokes and loves Suki, Katara who reminds her and Zuko to take breaks from firebending, Aang who's really nice and has the _best_ pets, Uncle Iroh who makes good tea and always has good advice, and so many others. She loves her little family, her and Mom and Dad —

But she likes having a big family a little more. 


End file.
